n 2025, Rurinnova actively contributed to strengthening professional skills in the agricultural and environmental sectors by supporting the development of two qualifying training pathways included in Sardinia’s Regional Catalogue of Qualification Profiles (RRPQ): Gardener (Addetto giardiniere) and Nursery and Floriculture Operator (Operatore florovivaista).
This was a meaningful experience in training for the green transition, developed in collaboration with the training agency Isforcoop, with the aim of shaping professional profiles able to combine technical expertise, sustainability, and innovation.
The RRPQ: a tool for people and territorial development
Established by Regional Government Resolution No. 33/9 of 30 June 2015, Sardinia’s RRPQ is the official reference framework for designing training pathways, certifying competences, and ensuring the recognition of professional profiles at regional, national, and European level.
It is a dynamic system, regularly updated to reflect emerging needs across productive sectors, including agriculture, green management, and the environment. In these areas, the RRPQ has promoted training pathways that integrate sustainable management of natural resources, landscape care, and productive innovation – preparing professionals to operate in both public and private settings, in urban and rural contexts.
Rurinnova’s role: bridging technical training and environmental sustainability
As an implementing partner, Rurinnova provided technical and scientific support for the design and delivery of the Gardener and Nursery and Floriculture Operator pathways, ensuring full alignment with labour-market needs and the challenges of the ecological transition.
Our contribution focused in particular on:
• Training design and technical planning, including territorial needs analysis and the update of contents with an eco-compatible approach;
• Classroom and field teaching, with modules on efficient water use, soil management, urban and rural biodiversity, and circular economy solutions applied to green maintenance;
• Support for validation and certification of competences (IVC), in line with RRPQ standards;
• Work-based learning and employability support, through guidance activities and coordination with nursery businesses and local authorities.
This integrated approach made training a concrete pathway towards employment, strengthening the link between training, business, and territory.
Green spaces, skills, and the future
These training programmes went beyond the transfer of technical skills: they helped develop professionals who understand the environmental and social value of their work – able to combine aesthetic, productive, and ecological functions, and to act as key contributors to the regeneration of rural and urban landscapes.
For Rurinnova, this experience marked an important step in building skills for the green transition, confirming our role as a bridge between agricultural innovation, training, and territorial sustainability.
Cultivating skills for a sustainable future
Investing in training means investing in human capital and territorial resilience. Through its contribution to the RRPQ, RURINNOVA reaffirmed its vision: making training in the green sector not only an employment opportunity, but also a strategic lever for the ecological transition and the regeneration of rural and urban communities.
